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The New York Yankees in June – Update

The Yankees have made quite a few moves during June and as the end of the month approaches I’ll try to summarise them here.

On the 3rd of June, the Yankees decided that they needed an infielder on the bench more then they needed an additional outfielder. Consequntly, they sent Zoilo Almonte back to Scranton (AAA) to make room for the returning Scott Sizemore.

On the same day, Michael Pineda’s slow progress back from injury saw him transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day list. The Yankees also claimed Wade LeBlanc, a left-handed reliever, off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

On the 4th, LeBlanc signing resulted in two further moves. Alfredo Aceves, who has had a number of stints with the Yankees, was really not working out this time and so he and his 6.52 ERA were designated for assignment with LeBlanc becoming his replacement as a left-hander out of the ‘pen. Jose Ramirez was recalled from the Railriders and Preston Claiborne was somewhat surprisingly optioned to make room for him.

Wade LeBlanc

The first week in June also saw some players returning from injury or getting near to that stage. Francisco Cervelli and Shawn Kelley were sent on rehab assignments to ready them for the big leagues and Carlos Beltran was activated from the DL with Sizemore once again catching the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bound shuttle to make room for him.

Things were still not working out too smoothly amongst the relievers at the major league level and it was something of a relief when on the 11th of June, Kelley became available again and Matt Daley, who had begun to struggle, was once more assigned to the Triple-A club.

Meanwhile, LeBlanc’s signing had proved to be something of a disaster and his 18.00 ERA led to a change being necessary and to him declining a reassignment to the farm system on the 14th. Aceves accepted a similar assignment around the same time.

To replace LeBlanc on the roster, the Yankees re-acquired left-hander, David Huff who had pitched for them with some success in the later months of 2013. He came across from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations.

David Huff

The second half of the month has proved much quieter so far. The major move has seen Francisco Cervelli activated from the 60-day disabled list and John Ryan Murphy transferred to Scranton to make room for him. As I mentioned in my May summaries, it remains to be seen whether either Murphy or Cervelli will attract significant trade interest before the forthcoming deadline.